


Not So Crystal-Clear

by TessaCom



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Detective Lyna is on the case, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Implied Sexual Content, Lyna's so innocent in this, M'iqote Warrior of Light, M/M, Male Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Post-Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, The case to find who thirsted the Exarch, Warrior of Darkness - Freeform, Warrior of Light is lowkey shameless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 16:50:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20138761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessaCom/pseuds/TessaCom
Summary: Lyna was surprised to walk into the Exarch's bedchambers to find more evidence of an unknown visitor than the man she came to see. With little to go on, Lyna can't help but be morbidly curious about who it is the Exarch wants to hide from everyone so desperately. With an entire Crystarium's worth of potential suspects, who couldv'e possibly won the Crystal Exarch's affections? It couldn't possibly be one of Norvrandt's newest arrivals... could it?Spoiler: Yes, it totally could. And it is.





	Not So Crystal-Clear

**Author's Note:**

> Please have mercy, this was an impulse write. I tried my best to make the Warrior of Light as ubiquitous as I could, but the descriptions did end up skewing more towards the Male M'iqote end of the spectrum, so here it is.

It was no secret that the Exarch was a recluse man, one who values his privacy and solitude. If there was anyone in Norvrandt who somehow didn’t know anything else about him, it was very likely they would know at least that. Secretive and prone to shutting in for days on end with little contact outside the Crystal Tower, Lyna was used to being one of the only people who could, relatively speaking, some and go as she pleased. To send messages to the supervisors around the Crystarium, to deliver him food and paperwork to his bedchambers when he would inevitably lose track of time and immerse himself in his duties in the Ocular, Lyna was the one person she knew he could rely on to bridge the gap between his life within the Crystal Tower to the one outside of it. From a young age that fact has been so ingrained that she hardly had the thought to knock on any one of the few doors within the Crystal Tower that she had reason to believe he would occupy.

Boy, would she be wrong on this particular day.

With a stack of paperwork in had, the Viera resolutely stood outside the Exarch’s bedchambers and called out to the man she knew would be within.

“Exarch, I have reports from Eulmore that demand your attention.”

She was full-well expecting a response from him, but she was slightly surprised to find that by the time she had gone to place her free hand on the handle to the door it was still conspicuously quiet between them.

Perhaps he was so immersed in one of his readings that he didn’t hear her? The Exarch always seemed to be awake and alert no matter what hour of the day it was, so she eliminated the possibility of him sleeping for his lack of response, but what else would distract him?

Opening the door cautiously, not knowing what to expect, Lyna was shocked to be greeted with the unusual disarray of his room. Had she not known any better, she would've assumed there had been a struggle- the sheets of his bed, usually untouched, now lay half-strewn across the floor, and there were unfamiliar bright red articles of clothing about the room, save for an unfamiliar red cavalier’s that that lay purposely placed atop the table in the corner, an ostentatiously large white plume causing her eyes to linger on it in particular. She couldn’t remember the Exarch owning any article of clothing aside from his signature robes, let alone anything as gaudy as this. Although, even in the unlikely chance that there was anything as theatrical as the bright crimson plume hat and a pair of leather thighboots, that each rested on opposite ends of the room, in his wardrobe… that still wouldn't explain how they’d be tossed about in such a manner?

Lyna just couldn’t seem to quite out a finger on what would explain the state of the room, her large ears perking inquisitively as she now noticed what seemed to be the ambient noise of the shower running in the adjoined bathroom.

Ah, that would explain why he didn’t respond to her notice of entry, at least.

“I’m going to leave this work here for you when you’re done. Do look it over and send for me if you have any questions.” Lyna announced loudly, now trying to compete with the shower head for the Exarch’s hearing.

As she placed the reports down on the same table with the damned cavalier’s hat, she was shocked to hear a loud crash echo from the bathroom, seemingly indicating that something had dropped, or perhaps he had fallen.

“Exarch, are you okay?”

The Viera rushed to the door to the bathroom to call out to him from the other side, hearing a sharp hiss through seemingly clenched teeth and groans to indicate that, indeed, the assumed Exarch had indeed fallen in the shower.

“Fine! I’m fine!”

He replied, sounding hurried and vaguely unfamiliar, giving Lyna pause for a moment as she contemplated his words. He… sounded strange. She wouldn't have assumed that the voice she heard was the Exarch, but the voice did seem familiar enough to her that she could write it off as perhaps embarrassment altering his tone.

Besides, who else but the Exarch would be occupying his personal shower?

“Ah, alright… but do not hesitate to visit the infirmary if you find you are injured.”

Lyna couldn’t hide the concern in her tone, her ears pressing flatter against her head out of worry, but she knew better than to try and encroach even further into his personal space in such a situation. Taking one more routine inspection of the room around her, and instinctively keeping note of the adornments on the coat and boots for future reference, the commander left the bedchambers feeling an unaddressed sense of confusion and worry.

\-----------

Descending down the stairs in front of the Crystal Tower, inwardly contemplating the events that had just taken place, Lyna found herself frozen in place when she saw the familiar robes of the Crystal Exarch coming to a halt in front of her, a basket of seemingly handmade sandwiches in hand.

“Ah, good morning, Lyna. Come to give me those reports you were expecting? I had nearly forgotten about them up until now.”

The Exarch sounded… happy. Well, not to say that he didn’t usually sound happy when they were talking, but this voice was different. Perhaps… wistful? There was a sense of ease that starkly contradicted his usual dignified and dutiful tone.

And it brought to memory that this voice was certainly not the one she had spoken with just minutes prior.

“Ah… yes. I delivered them to your bedchambers.”

“To my…” The Exarch visibly tensed upon hearing this, the sense of airiness of his voice deflating as he was evidently piecing together the implications of her words. Though, this second of rigidness and hesitation was swept away just as suddenly as it had some about, replaced with his usual dutiful composure that the Viera had come to expect from the man. “Yes, my bedchambers. I’ll get right to it then. Sorry for the mess you must have seen, I’ve been in the process of re-configuring my wardrobe. Now that I needn’t hide my face from the Crystarium, I’ve been toying with the idea of retiring these tired robes.”

The Exarch smiled innocently, very quick to address the concerns that must’ve been littered across Lyna’s face.

He was hiding something.

“Yes, that explains things… though I must advise you not to leave the shower faucet running in your absence.”

His smile flickered, his ears twitched, and the slight widening of his eyes were all enough indication to Lyna that her assumption had been correct- though the undeniable flush that rose across his cheeks revealed to Lyna the nature of just what he was hiding from her.

A lover.

“My apologies, with all that’s happened recently I’ve found myself growing increasingly scatterbrained- perhaps my years are finally catching up with me.” The Exarch forced a laugh, and Lyna innocently nodded along as she screamed on the inside.

Her adoptive grandfather…had company the night before.

“Well, it would seem there’s work for me to do now, so I’ll do as you request and read those reports and hopefully get back to you before the end of the day.”

Ceasing her train of thought there, Lyna wordlessly stepped aside to allow the Exarch to pass, routinely giving him a salute as he seemingly all-too-quickly took her up on her offer of escape from this conversation. As he passed, she couldn't help but look at the open basket that he held close to him, sandwiches that seemed too many for just one… but perhaps just enough to feed two.

Rushing down the stairs as soon as the Exarch had passed, the commander couldn’t help the list of names that ran through her head, like suspects in a criminal case.

A gaudy plumed hat.

A vaguely familiar masculine voice.

Unmistakable crimson combat attire.

And, most importantly of all, a close-enough relationship with the Exarch that he would invite them to breakfast the morning after and allow them unsupervised use of his bedchambers.

It was so little to go on, and yet Lyna felt like it was more than enough to narrow down whoever it might’ve been.


End file.
